Using a variable before it has been initialised

[O. Ziggy]

class ZiggyTest{
	
	static int x = getValue();
	static int y = 5;
	
	public static int getValue(){
		return y;
	}
	
	public static void main(String[] args){
	
		System.out.println(x);
	}	
}

The above code example print "0". I think it is because the getValue() method is called before y has been initialised. I didn't realise that methods can be called before all static variables have been initialised. Is there a simple explanation for this?

Thanks

[Dan Drillich]

I agree with you. Especially, since the following yields the expected result - 5.

    	static int y = 5;  
        static int x = getValue(); 

Static Initialization Blocks says -

The runtime system guarantees that static initialization blocks are called in the order that they appear in the source code.

It probably applies to a sequence of static variable initialization as well (versus a static block).

Regards,
Dan

[Sebanti Sanyal]

Initializer expressions are executed in the order in which the fields are declared in the class. If you invoke getValue() before initializing y, it will return the default value of int(i.e. 0).